For many of us out there, we’ve grown up with a telephone in the household. The good old fashioned landline, which was normally found in the kitchen or hallway, or - once cordless phones came about - left in some mysterious location around the house that nobody could find.

While the landline was once an essential part of every household, the rise of the mobile phone has slowly made the landline a thing of the past. Over time, the landline has become obsolete for many Kiwis - which may leave you wondering - “do I still need a landline?”

In this blog post, we discuss the pros and cons of landlines and whether you really need it or not.

The Pros of Owning a Landline

First, let’s talk about the benefits that you get to reap with keeping your landline:

Easy to use - for the older generation of Kiwis, mobile phones can be confusing and tricky to use. Landlines are an ideal option for those who like to keep things simple - mainly, those who don’t use the internet or text message.

Easier to locate - keeping your landline means that - if ever required - emergency services are able to locate your house much easier than if you were calling from a mobile phone.

Cheaper calls - you’ll find that it’s cheaper to make calls using a landline than it is to use a mobile phone, especially for local phone calls.

Can use a fax machine - if you own a fax machine and still use it, you’ll need a landline. Fax machines cannot operate without a landline.

Great coverage - if you own a mobile phone, you have probably experienced bad coverage in certain areas. With a landline, it’s very unlikely to have this issue.

A lot of Kiwis have also chosen to keep their landline as a way to encourage their young children to use the ‘old fashioned’ method of communicating with others, rather than exposing them to mobile phones.

The Cons of Owning a Landline

While a landline can provide a number of benefits for some Kiwis, for others, there is not much point in keeping it. Here’s why you may not need to keep your landline:

High monthly costs - even though the landline isn’t as common as it used to be, the costs of keeping it are still quite high. Keeping your landline alone can cost around $50 each month, which is more expensive than a lot of mobile phone plans. However, some ISP providers have taken note of this, and now offer landline and internet deals with a reduced landline monthly fee.

Higher rate of spam calls - it’s been shown that landlines are much more susceptible to receiving spam phone calls than mobile phones.

High international call rates - the cost of calling internationally can be quite extravagant! If you regularly need to contact someone overseas, it’s likely you’ll be paying through the roof to do this through a landline. With a mobile phone, you can use apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to call people around the world for free.

Unnecessary for internet connection - it used to be a requirement to have a landline in order to get access to the internet - however, this is the case no longer for the majority of Australian homes. With ‘Naked’ internet plans, you can access broadband without the need of a landline.

Still not sure if you want to keep your landline? Check out our online comparison tool - it allows you to compare landline and broadband plans and discover which Australian ISP can offer you the best deal. It only takes a few minutes to compare, and you can filter your search by landline requirements, internet speed and contract preferences.